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KUALA LUMPUR: Kesan kecerdasan buatan (AI) terhadap pasaran kerja adalah nyata dengan kesannya terhadap pemberhentian kerja dalam segmen tertentu, kata Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif, Presiden dan Dekan Asia School of Business, Prof Sanjay Sarma.

Beliau berkata, ada syarikat teknologi telah membangunkan pembantu AI yang boleh menggantikan pekerjaan di pusat panggilan.

Katanya, teknologi itu boleh beroperasi di 23 pasaran dengan berkeupayaan dikendalikan dalam 35 bahasa, 24 jam sehari, tujuh hari seminggu.

Malah, jelasnya, teknologi AI itu juga berjaya melayani pelanggan dengan lebih pantas, dengan masa penyelesaian menurun kepada dua minit daripada 11 sebelumnya dan terdapat juga penurunan sebanyak 25 peratus dalam pertanyaan berulang.

“Ia menggantikan kerja 700 ejen sepenuh masa,” katanya pada sesi plenari bertajuk ‘Data dan Kecerdasan Buatan: Memperkasa Masa Depan’ di sini, hari ini.

Sidang plenari itu sempena Persidangan Statistik Malaysia (MyStats) ke-11 2024 yang bertemakan ‘Data dan Kecerdasan Buatan: Memperkasa Masa Depan’ anjuran secara bersama antara Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia dan Institut Statistik Malaysia.

Sanjay berkata, syarikat AI itu dianggarkan menjana keuntungan sehingga AS$40 juta dalam tempoh 20 tahun.

Justeru, katanya, kesan AI kepada pekerjaan adalah nyata.

“Kita berada di ambang sesuatu yang luar biasa, menakutkan, menggerunkan dan menakjubkan,” katanya.

Mengenai kesan kepada pasaran kerja di Malaysia, Sanjay berkata, impak AI ke atas pasaran kerja Malaysia akan sangat mengejutkan.

“Saya fikir Malaysia mempunyai, mungkin, lima tahun (sebelum AI memberi kesan kepada pekerjaan di negara ini),” katanya.

Lebih 1,000 peserta menghadiri MyStats kali ke-11 itu yang menjadi platform untuk ahli statistik, penyelidik, ahli ekonomi, pembuat dasar, ahli akademik untuk mengetengahkan idea baharu dan meningkatkan pemahaman bersama dalam bidang statistik, selain mewujudkan jalinan kerjasama dan rangkaian yang lebih baik.

Ia juga dapat meningkatkan lagi keberkesanan analisis dan penggubalan dasar kerajaan yang dibuat berdasarkan fakta. 

Originally published by Berita Harian.

KUALA LUMPUR: The impact of artificial intelligence on the job market is real, the CEO of a business school has warned, citing the layoffs it created in the Philippines.

Sanjay Sarma, of Asia School of Business, said a third of the Philippines’s revenue comes from call centres, which businesses outsource to local residents.

He also said that recently, a Swedish fintech company developed an AI assistant that could operate in 23 markets, 24/7, in 35 languages.

The AI, which handled two-thirds of its customer service, managed to attend to customers faster, with the resolution time dropping to two minutes from the previous 11. There was also a 25% drop in repeat inquiries, he said.

It replaced the work of 700 full-time agents, he said at the 11th Malaysia Statistics Conference here today.

Sanjay said the company’s AI is estimated to drive profit up to US$40 million in 20 years.

The impact on jobs is real. We are on the threshold of something incredible, scary, terrifying, and wonderful, he said.

He said the impact AI would have on the Malaysian job market would be staggering.

I think Malaysia has, maybe, five years (before AI impacts jobs in the country), he said. 

Originally published by Free Malaysia Today.

KUALA LUMPUR – Lebih 1,000 peserta terdiri daripada ahli statistik, ahli akademik dan penyelidik dari pelbagai agensi secara fizikal serta dalam talian menyertai Persidangan Statistik Malaysia (MyStats) ke-11 2024 di Sasana Kijang, Bank Negara Malaysia di sini pada Khamis.

Timbalan Menteri Ekonomi, Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib berkata, persidangan ini merupakan antara platform yang membolehkan para perangkawan, penyelidik, ahli akademik dan pengguna data untuk memahami dan membincangkan hal berkaitan pengurusan data dan sosio ekonomi semasa di samping perkembangan teknologi yang semakin maju pada hari ini.

“Saya berkeyakinan bahawa melalui kertas pembentangan MyStats pada hari ini, kita dapat menambah input-input yang signifikan bagi memperkukuh proses asimilasi kecerdasan buatan di negara kita.

“Dengan menggunakan data yang kaya dan analitik mendalam, kita dapat membuat keputusan lebih baik, meningkatkan kecekapan dan menginovasi dalam pelbagai bidang, yang semuanya membawa kepada peningkatan kualiti hidup dan pembangunan berterusan,” ujarnya.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika menyampaikan ucapan perasmian pada persidangan tersebut dianjurkan Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia dan Institut Statistik Malaysia dengan tema “Data dan Kecerdasan Buatan: Memperkasa Masa Depan” di sini pada Khamis.

Hadir sama, Ketua Perangkawan Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin dan Timbalan Gabenor Bank Negara Malaysia, Datuk Marzunisham Omar.

Sementara itu, menurut Mohd Uzir, tema persidangan kali ini mencerminkan peranan yang semakin meningkat dalam menggabungkan teknologi dan data untuk mencipta inovasi serta meningkatkan keberkesanan dalam pelbagai sektor di negara kita.

Jelasnya, ia bertujuan menyediakan platform untuk ahli statistik, penyelidik, ahli ekonomi, pembuat dasar, ahli akademik untuk mengetengahkan idea baharu dan meningkatkan pemahaman bersama dalam bidang statistik, selain mewujudkan jalinan kerjasama dan rangkaian yang lebih baik.

“Ini dapat meningkatkan lagi keberkesanan analisis dan penggubalan dasar kerajaan yang dibuat berdasarkan fakta.

“MyStats ialah platform untuk mengumpulkan ahli statistik, pembuat dasar dan pengamal statistik terkenal yang memberikan pelbagai manfaat kepada komuniti statistik,” ujarnya pada persidangan berkenaan.

Terdahulu, persidangan bermula dengan sesi ucap tama yang membincangkan dengan lebih lanjut berkenaan tema persidangan disampaikan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif juga merupakan Presiden Asia School of Business, Profesor Sanjay Sarma.

Persidangan kemudiannya diteruskan dengan dua sesi forum menghuraikan perihal gaji progresif dengan membincangkan pandangan majikan dan penyelidik berkaitan pelaksanaan gaji progresif dan komitmen kerajaan bagi mereformasi pasaran buruh dengan matlamat untuk meningkatkan pendapatan pekerja selari dengan peningkatan produktiviti.

Pengenalan dasar baharu ini akan menjadi pelengkap kepada inisiatif gaji sedia ada iaitu perintah gaji minimum dan sistem upah yang dikaitkan dengan produktiviti (Productivity Linked-Wage System – PLWS).

Forum kedua adalah mengenai kecerdasan buatan (Al) dan dilema kehilangan pekerjaan bagi membincangkan berkenaan kecerdasan buatan (Al) yang telah membawa perubahan besar dalam era Revolusi Industri 4.0 (IR 4.0).

Selain itu, persidangan ini turut mengiktiraf sumbangan pengamal statistik melalui anugerah “Mystats The Best Young Statistician Presenter”, “The Best Oral Presenter” dan “The Best Poster Presenter” sebagai penghargaan dalam mengiktiraf bakat mereka dari segi penyelidikan dan penghasilan statistik berimpak tinggi.

Sebelum ini, Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia (DOSM) telah melancarkan OpenDOSM NextGen sebagai medium menyediakan katalog data dan visualisasi bagi memudahkan pengguna menganalisis pelbagal data, OpenDOSM NextGen adalah platform perkongsian data sumber terbuka dan boleh diakses melalui portal https://open.dosm.gov.my.

Dalam masa sama, DOSM sedang menjalankan banci pertanian dan juga survei pendapatan dan perbelanjaan (HIES) POSM juga akan menyambut Hari Statistik Negara pada bulan hadapan dan Sambutan Jubli Intan Ke-75 Tahun DOSM yang akan berlangsung di Pulau Pinang November ini.

Originally published by Sinar Harian.

Staying updated through learning and training will help employees deal with concerns about artificial intelligence (AI).

Asia School of Business Assis- tant Professor Alex Eng said people became frustrated with technology at work because they expected it to be perfect.

He added that this disappoint- ment arose when Al or machines made mistakes, leading to a per- ception of these tools as flawed.

“When people make mistakes, we would say ‘to make a mistake is human’, but when it comes to machines making mistakes, we call it ‘flawed,” he told the ‘New Straits Times’ recently.

Better understanding of Artificial Intelligence

Eng said it was crucial to educate employees and managers about the nature of Al, its capabilities and the reasons behind dissat- isfaction with technology if they wanted to implement it in their workspace.

He said training should focus on setting realistic expectations and understanding how to interact with Al, and helping employees and organisations adapt to and man- age technological tools better.

He said employees and manag- ers needed to be educated about the basics of Al, including what it was and the ability required to interact with it.

“Businesses must understand the factors that lead to dissatisfaction with Al, especially the differences in how people perceive mistakes made by Al compared with those made by humans.”

He added that companies should train their employees to recognise that the expectations for Al and human responses differed, such as the time taken to provide advice or solutions.

“Training boosts employees’ per- ception of Al, making it easy to use and useful by increasing accessibility and relevance to their tasks.”

Eng said it could also help build confidence and reduce computer anxiety.

Read the full article HERE.
Originally published by New Straits Times.

Since 2017, there has been a 38% increase in family offices worldwide, with the Middle East becoming a popular jurisdiction.

Leading family businesses in the Middle East have been evolving over the past two decades. As patriarchs age, they have prioritised reorganising their management structures and adopting corporate governance and family protocols. This ensures orderly successions and smooth transmissions of businesses to the next generation, particularly given that only 13% of family businesses survive into the third generation.

A third of family offices globally are currently in the process of handing over responsibilities to a new generation of leaders, and more than a quarter expect to do so soon. In the Middle East, an estimated Dh3.67 trillion ($1 trillion) in assets will be transferred to the next generation during the next decade.

These families have also made a strategic move to separate management from ownership, delegating responsibilities to professionals and staying remote from day-to-day operations. This approach infuses businesses with new ideas while preserving the family’s strategic oversight and long-term vision.

“Family enterprises are evolving as families evolve—especially when wealth passes between generations, for example, when members become adults and, in turn, owners and/or employees of the family business,” noted Niels Zilkens, Head of Wealth Management, Middle East, UBS Global Wealth Management. “The rapid pace of change and constant need for innovation in today’s market can make these evolutions more challenging, however in our experience, those with well-defined values are best placed to succeed.”

Opinions differ on the best approach. “Many professionals believe that separating management from ownership is the optimal strategy, as it allows for professional management while maintaining family control,” noted Mazen Boustany, Partner at Baker McKenzie LLP. “Conversely, some argue that having ‘skin in the game’ is better, asserting that the direct involvement of family members in management ensures a stronger commitment to the business’s success.”

Next generation

Succession planning has several advantages for families and their organisations. It prepares both for leadership transitions and helps ensure a seamless handover, knowledge transfer and risk mitigation. Industry experts see this occurring more frequently as family offices collaborate, sharing knowledge more openly with peers.

This matches talent development with business goals, ensuring a skilled workforce aligned with family values and ready to drive long-term performance. “A family’s planning efforts should begin with mentoring, coaching, and deciding which family member is best placed to take the leadership reins for the next generation,” explained Adam Ladjadj, Founder of The Emirates Family Office Association. “This process typically begins by involving the younger generation from an early age, cultivating a leadership mindset that naturally integrates family values with innovation.”

“Equally important is giving future family business leaders space and freedom to be creative, experiment, and innovate,” he added. “This balance is vital for an optimum succession strategy, allowing the business to evolve while staying true to its core values.”

Currently, 68% of next-generation family members hold advanced degrees in finance or business, up from just 30% a decade ago. This educational trend ensures that future leaders are equipped to drive innovation. Moreover, next-gen family members are now involved in 65% of family businesses, contributing to key operations and values. This hands-on approach provides valuable practical experience through mentorship and execution, facilitating the transfer of family values and business acumen while encouraging fresh perspectives on innovation and growth strategies.

The rise in family offices

Since 2017, there has been a 38% increase in family offices worldwide, with the Middle East becoming a popular jurisdiction. The increased focus on succession planning and long-term stewardship aims to secure lasting legacies and family heritage for the next generation.

“Traditionally very discreet, family offices are coming out of the shadows and becoming an attractive structure for managing private/family capital,” stated Ladjadj. “Family offices’ increased visibility has accompanied their strategic transition from local wealth custodians to dynamic entities actively seeking investments and partnerships.”

Communication and decision-making become more complex when families grow and develop as new members and technologies are introduced. These steps must be guided by a clear governance framework with processes and principles that ensure efficient operations. A “family constitution” or “family charter” should describe the family’s values, principles of engagement in the business, decision-making and communication processes, and family activities.

“This clarifies to family members where they fit in the enterprise and what that means for them,” explained Zilkens. “It defines, for example, how they can interact and influence the rest of the family or what role they can play in respect to ownership or management. Finally, it helps families balance everyone’s interests and ambitions and avoid discontent.”

On the investment side, the family should define a professional investment policy that aligns with its values. Such a policy sets out clear goals, rules, and processes for investing. It serves as the basis for decision-making on asset allocation or key investment decisions by the family’s investment committee.

The rise of AI

Since 2018, 35% of family offices have adopted AI and machine learning for risk assessment and asset allocation, preserving the family’s control over wealth management decisions while leveraging technology for improved performance. Cybersecurity investments have also risen, reflecting a growing commitment to safeguarding family wealth and data in the digital age.

“They have not escaped the disruptive aspects of the digital revolution, and those thriving most have embraced tech advances such as automation, data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and fintech innovation,” Ladjadj added. “Modern tools that enhance connectivity and communication between family members are crucial. Heritage can also be protected by preserving historical records, documents, and values in digital formats, ensuring easy access for future generations.”

Nearly 57% of family businesses in the region prioritise improving their digital capabilities, compared to 44% globally. Over the past decade, there has been a shift in portfolio composition, with traditional sectors like real estate and commodities decreasing and a rise in alternative investments, particularly private equity and venture capital.

“This reallocation reflects a growing appetite for innovation while preserving a strong foundation in traditional assets,” stated Anuj Goel, SEO, Century Private Wealth. “There is a rising integration of modern sustainable practices, with 93% of family businesses incorporating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria into their investment strategies.”

Advisory firms

Family wealth transfers require strategic planning, and experts see families increasingly seeking external support. This ensures that planning is done in a professional manner while alleviating some of the emotional biases that naturally occur.

Many UAE family businesses work with dedicated family business advisory firms. Some family members may resist outside involvement in family matters, so companies often involve them in the selection of advisors to build trust.

“The role of external advisory and mentorship can be critical in professionalising the succession planning process for UAE family businesses,” stated Asad Ata, Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at the Asia School of Business. “They can help address different facets of succession planning for family businesses.”

Succession planning and the role of family offices have become crucial amid recent global instability. In the Middle East, there is a growing trend of establishing family offices to separate business operations from private family wealth.

The looming wealth transfer between generations will see up to $70 trillion of private wealth bequeathed, presenting challenges such as inheritance laws, investment strategies, and conflict. It is vital that families do not face these challenges alone.

As wealth transfer accelerates, families increasingly demand sophisticated services and support. “We see a growing awareness for education of the next generation among wealthy families in the Middle East, as well as increasing interest in professional family office services based on international best practices to retain control over the family’s wealth,” noted Zilkens. “Often, family offices are organizationally separated from the family’s operating business.”

Advice and guidance for Middle Eastern families is vitally important. Up to 80% of the region’s private sector involves family businesses. Succession planning has evolved significantly as more families recognise it as a crucial tool within their family offices.

Succession planning guarantees the retention of identity, culture, and mission, even when key figures depart. Experts are necessary to navigate challenges in professional disciplines such as tax, legal, investments, real estate, and finance. External advisors and mentors are also essential in facilitating tough conversations about succession within families, offering impartial advice and ensuring fairness and openness during difficult moments. “The business world has many examples of both well-handled successions and poorly managed ones,” stressed Ladjadj. “The latter often stem from poor or non-expert advice – and these are the case studies that make the headlines.”

Read the full article HERE.
Originally published by Finance Middle East

  • Future leaders are going to need to understand AI in order to create and maintain policies and use it correctly. This is where we look to education leaders.
  • AACSB’s 2022 business trends report stated that upcoming technological advancements, such as VR, would make waves in universities and help them to become more diverse.
  • For the schools that get it right, AI can be a valuable learning tool, professors reveal.

The fate of the world has been up for debate ever since the launch of ChatGPT almost two years ago. It seems that every time I open a news or social media app there is another article about the doom and gloom that the bot will bring. And, while I laugh, the fact is that ChatGPT could change education in many ways, potentially ways we currently can’t even imagine, considering how fast it’s progressing.

The more Artificial Intelligence (AI) develops, the more questions people have. Is it going to affect jobs? Which jobs, and how? A report from Goldman Sachs claimed that AI could replace an astounding 300 million jobs.

In terms of which jobs are most likely to be affected, that answer seems to change a lot. But haven’t we already seen jobs replaced by technology? How often do you try to contact customer service and find yourself calling your details out to a bot on the other end of the phone? Or, worse, when you have to ‘chat’ to a bot via a text-like system.

The multiple news articles about ChatGPT all had one thing in common: doom and gloom. Personally, these stories remind me of two things: the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory scene where everyone was dismissed from the toothpaste factory because robots could now do their jobs for them, and the Black Mirror Christmas special where the woman becomes an Alexa-like object.

Neither option is sounding too attractive!

OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, can provide more than just a simple answer to a question; it gives the impression that it is really thinking, creating and potentially even empathizing. The site has grown rapidly, with 2.5 billion site visitors in the last three months alone. It’s worth remembering that ChatGPT hasn’t even reached its second birthday yet, so we really don’t understand how big it is going to be.

Since ChatGPT’s launch, companies such as Microsoft and Google have released their version of the bot, in order to keep up with their new competition. It is safe to say that since the arrival of ChatGPT, the internet is no longer the same.

Addressing AI safety concerns

With the advancement of AI capabilities, one of the biggest concerns was the dangers AI could present.

It seems to be designed to deliberately deceive users. Almost every day there is a different scam in the news, such as the recent scam calls that have terrorized people online. More worryingly, the new “deepfake” images that have been going viral present a whole new threat. Some have been used as propaganda, such as Trump’s photos of Kamala Harris or Taylor Swift. But others are being used in even more sinister ways, such as deepfake porn. There is no doubt that AI and ChatGPT present a vast range of incredibly dangerous and negative developments as well as positive.

The CEO of Open AI, Sam Altman, openly admits that the need for regulations around AI is vital. He spoke to the US Congress in May last year about his creation, and the ways he believes it should be used and handled. He advocated for an independent agency to oversee all AI models before they are released and wants the most powerful models to adhere to licensing, testing and safety requirements.

Every country will do things differently. Businesses will need to work closely with the government, and will therefore look to business schools and their graduates for information to do so.

Since Altman’s pleas, and the ever-growing evidence to support his worries, the European Union has created their first ever legal framework on AI, which addresses the risks of AI and positions Europe to play a leading role globally. But what does this really mean?

The law, known as The AI Act, places restrictions on what are considered to be technology’s riskiest uses. Therefore, it would curtail the use of facial recognition software, and require the creators of AI systems such as ChatGPT to disclose more about the data used to create their programs. The final version of the law was published in the EU Official Journal in July of this year, proving that the EU is still further ahead in the process of regulating AI than its global counterparts.

Policymakers from all around the world are now racing to control the evolving technology, one that is growing more rapidly than any of its predecessors. In the US, the White House had released policy ideas that include rules for testing AI systems before they are made publicly available. Governments near and far are also hoping to take some control over how the makers of AI will use data, and how they will enforce privacy laws.

Part of the problem when addressing safety and responsibility in the creation and the use of AI is that it changes so rapidly that effective regulation of AI can often become outdated too quickly.

Naturally, the regulations are facing scrutiny from some industries, with one tech group claiming that if the regulations are too broad, they could prevent further innovation in the world of AI. And whilst Altman has been asking for regulation, he also believes the EU’s proposal might be difficult to comply with.

Ethics in AI is a complex issue, and Professor Zorina Alliata from Open Institute of Education (OPIT) makes the point that ethics in AI is still developing. “Generative AI will create new content based on chunks of text it finds in its training data, without an understanding of what the content means. It could repeat something it learned from one Reddit user ten years ago that could be factually incorrect. Is that piece of information unbiased and fair?”

Regulation in AI starts from the bottom, and from the people responsible for it, says Alliata. “If you look around the table and see the same type of guys who went to the same schools, you will get exactly one original idea from them. If you add different genders, different ages, different tenures, different backgrounds, then you will get ten innovative ideas for your product, and you will have addressed biases you’ve never even thought of.”

In terms of safety and responsibility when using AI, there is a long way to go and many more debates to be had. For now, we must look to education to help us understand it. Future leaders are going to need to understand AI in order to create and maintain policies, and use it in the right areas. This is where we look to education leaders. They are shaping the minds of the next generation of leaders: they should use it, teach it and engage with it. The sooner it is utilized, the better. That way, the regulation can be based on fact and experience, rather than ‘what ifs’.

How can AI affect education?

Higher education institutions are doing all that they can to learn about AI in order to prepare their students for the world of business. Similarly, companies are looking to business schools for answers. Right now, it is all about learning and adapting, after all, in the grand scheme of things, ChatGPT is still only in its early phases.

In fact, AACSB’s 2022 business trends report stated that upcoming technological advancements, such as VR, would make waves in universities and help them to become more diverse. The benefits of introducing AI into the classroom seemed huge. Since then, conversations around AI tools have become less about what AI can do for us, but instead what it can do to us. AI tools have surpassed everyone’s expectations, with their capabilities ranging from defeating you at chess to acing the GMAT. So, where do education leaders stand on the topic?

To avoid disaster, schools should look at how they are using human faculty. Do they have the right knowledge? Can they adapt, and how quickly? Getting ahead of AI will be the most effective antidote to the media’s fearmongering.

For Sanjay Sarma, the CEO, President and Dean of Asia School of Business, the best option is to take control now. He states that AI and ChatGPT have the potential to “make individuals superhuman, but much like the domestication of the horse, it is all about those that learn to ride.” Therefore, if we adapt now and learn how to use these tools within education, it does not have to be scary. He believes that this is the best time for an educational revolution. “In a post-GPT world, the system is capable of doing well. It is human instinct that remains. So, classroom learning needs to be revolutionized.”

His sentiments were echoed by Professor Reza Etemad-Sajadi from EHL Hospitality Business School, who said “It would be a mistake to see it as a threat and, regardless, we have no choice. We will have to adapt to this kind of technology in the future.” By fearing AI, we are only delaying the inevitable. It is here to stay, and the sooner we adapt and learn how to use it the better the outcome will be.

For Phanish Puranam, Professor of Strategy and the Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Strategy and Organization Design at INSEAD, the future of AI in Business Schools is bright. “As I tell my students, they should worry less about ChatGPT taking their jobs (at least today), and more about somebody who knows how to use it taking their jobs!” However, he warns students that if we don’t adapt and change with AI and ChatGPT that we will end up “losing human-centricity in organizations of the future.”

The more we adapt to using AI in education, the more we can prepare to use it in the future, which will prevent our worst fear of AI taking over. “I am a lot more optimistic for business schools than for societal impact at large.”

Can AI be a positive teaching tool?

As we know, AI bots will answer almost any question you ask it. By doing so, they provide a learning tool for those who want to use it to explain things they struggle to understand. Russell Miller – Director of Learning Solutions and Innovation at Imperial College Business School Executive Education, believes that students can utilize this for good.

He says: “Brainstorming/ideation may be drastically improved by incorporating wild and unorthodox ideas from generative AI that might inspire people to come up with interesting new products and services.”

Creativity in education, particularly that of business education, is the way forward. If we can make use of AI to help us to become more creative, society will improve. The world of business education needs to keep up with technological advancements in order to progress, and to prepare students for the world they are going to enter.

For now, humans must remain in the driving seat. We can’t allow AI to lead us, we must lead it. However, we need to be capable of thinking critically, according to Professor Francisco Veloso, Dean of INSEAD, “The already important skill of critical thinking will become much more salient, a must in terms of education.” Like his peers, Professor Veloso can appreciate all of the good that AI will bring, but he is correct in his concern for the need for critical thinking being used alongside AI.

As we approach ChatGPT’s second birthday, it is worth looking back at how far we have come even since then. The conversations being had have a more positive spin, and are full of wonder. We are here now; we can’t go back. There is no choice but to adapt to AI, because it can’t be undone.

While it took everyone by surprise, maybe we should be asking ‘what’s next?’ For the schools that get it right, the sky truly is the limit. With the right attitude, the right training, and the right research, this very big change could perhaps be the making of us.

By Georgina Tierney

Originally published by BlueSky Thinking.

It’s no secret that technology is transforming business education at a faster rate than ever. At the heart of this digital transformation are exciting advancements in AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and biotechnology — just to name a few.

As the business landscape shifts, B-schools are jockeying for position, rolling out different learning formats to accommodate students from all corners of the world. According to its dean, Asia School of Business, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is stepping up to the challenge, blending traditional and digital learning while maintaining focus on flexibility, accessibility, and cutting-edge educational frameworks.

“It is, in my view, a matter of time before students demand an even greater degree of agility,” ASB Dean Sanjay Sarma tells Poets&Quants.

‘ASB is particularly keen on action learning projects’

ASB has offered their MBA in collaboration with MIT Sloan for the past ten years, and recently redesigned the program to a 12-month format. The program is taught with signature MIT flair, emphasizing practical, real-world experiential learning within industries and organizations across Asia and the U.S.

With roots from MIT and developed at ASB, their hybrid ACE (Agile Continuous Education) program incorporates both video learning and live sessions, that leads to either masters programs or specializations.

At the forefront of the program is Sarma, the Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, who is not only ASB’s dean but also its CEO and president. He and his ASB colleagues are preparing students to face global challenges during this era of dramatic digital transformation, integrating advanced technologies and AI into the curriculum in a way that other institutions of higher learning will inevitably seek to emulate.

At the core of everything they do is embracing the mutability of business education — essential at a time of great and rapid change. “There are so many things that could change — what are we teaching, who is teaching it, do we have the capacity to teach it,” Sarma says. “ASB is particularly keen on action learning projects, so we put students in the field — an MIT concept.”

Below, see highlight from Poets&Quants’ interview with Sarma, edited for length and clarity.

What are the biggest challenges you’re currently facing with digital transformation?

It’s about disintegrating and reintegrating. Let’s say you wanted to learn about AI, crypto or carbon credits. Where do you go?

What we are doing is creating these hybrid courses where you watch the videos when you can, such as on the weekends. You don’t have to leave your job – you watch the videos when you can. You’re a weekend warrior and you master the topic when you can.

How is AI being utilized at ASB and how it is transforming teaching methods?

There are a few different levels. First, much of what professors use is automated, and a lot it is customer service based.

The next is in using AI to generate codes to write classroom games and simulations.

The third is using AI as a tutor. It can ask you questions, and you as the student can ask it questions.

The other thing about AI is, it’s going to be something you have to retrain yourself in every six to nine months because every thing has changed so much. I spend about two to three hours a week reading up on the latest myself.

The faculty have lots of discussions about AI, and we are small, so we can do that. The systems naturally absorb AI. AI tools creep in even for those professors who don’t use it often. You just have to be open-minded right now.

How is ASB preparing students to tackle these unique challenges in the global business world?

We are fundamentally rethinking our curriculum around technology.

ASB students spend weeks at a time at MIT. We introduced AI as a course and we also have a data science course.

That’s another thing for professors – they have to fundamentally rethink their curriculum.

The second piece of this is what we are doing – developing agile continuous education with our hybrid courses, which are micro-credentials that are modular, stackable and transferable to our MBA or Executive MBA, or specializations in areas such as sustainability or organizational management.

Sanjay Sarma: “It is, in my view, a matter of time before students demand an even greater degree of agility”

What other impacts do you believe the integration of advanced technologies will have on traditional business school models?

Business is changing so fast, and traditional business schools teach what needs to be taught right from the front lines.

Is the MBA worth it? These tools mean that there are so many new delivery methods. Do you want to be a movie theater in the age of Netflix? That’s the question. Adjust and adapt.

There are so many things that could change — what are we teaching, who is teaching it, do we have the capacity to teach it. ASB is particularly keen on action learning projects, so we put students in the field — an MIT concept.

How do you as a professor ensure that the curriculum remains relevant?

Its not easy. It’s very difficult to do. A lot of these fields have evolved over  a hundred years and there’s a playbook on how to teach it.

The fundamentals don’t change much,  but pretty much everything else changes when technology changes so rapidly. Take marketing, before and after TikTok. There’s a difference in the choices you make and the way you segment customers. Everything changes.

With my own technical work, I’ve changed the way I operate within the last three months. I’ve changed the way I write documents, the way I develop curriculum, the way I interact with my colleagues, the way I do research, and the way that I interact with my staff has changed.

The way I take notes, the way I do follow ups. I travel extensively, the time it takes me to plan travel has been cut in half.  I use Chat GPT, Perplexity and other tools. They all make serious mistakes. But I have achieved a level of expertise in these areas. I learn things faster now – things that would have in the past taken me weeks and months to learn.

Everything gets faster — it’s game-changing.

How important is it for MBA graduates to be proficient in emerging technologies?

100%. If you’re working at a bank as a young person, you’re going to have to take on challenges like how to use large language models in customer service. How do you address the risks of large language models, and what do you do when a large language model  makes a mistake?

Same with modern payment systems, crypto, carbon credits, I could name a hundred other similar examples. It’s really important because the vast majority of graduates are going to be at the forefront of a very significant change.

Originally published by Yahoo Finance.

It’s no secret that technology is transforming business education at a faster rate than ever. At the heart of this digital transformation are exciting advancements in AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and biotechnology — just to name a few.

As the business landscape shifts, B-schools are jockeying for position, rolling out different learning formats to accommodate students from all corners of the world. According to its dean, Asia School of Business, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is stepping up to the challenge, blending traditional and digital learning while maintaining focus on flexibility, accessibility, and cutting-edge educational frameworks.

“It is, in my view, a matter of time before students demand an even greater degree of agility,” ASB Dean Sanjay Sarma tells Poets&Quants.

‘ASB is particularly keen on action learning projects’

ASB has offered their MBA in collaboration with MIT Sloan for the past ten years, and recently redesigned the program to a 12-month format. The program is taught with signature MIT flair, emphasizing practical, real-world experiential learning within industries and organizations across Asia and the U.S.

With roots from MIT and developed at ASB, their hybrid ACE (Agile Continuous Education) program incorporates both video learning and live sessions, that leads to either masters programs or specializations.

At the forefront of the program is Sarma, the Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, who is not only ASB’s dean but also its CEO and president. He and his ASB colleagues are preparing students to face global challenges during this era of dramatic digital transformation, integrating advanced technologies and AI into the curriculum in a way that other institutions of higher learning will inevitably seek to emulate.

At the core of everything they do is embracing the mutability of business education — essential at a time of great and rapid change. “There are so many things that could change — what are we teaching, who is teaching it, do we have the capacity to teach it,” Sarma says. “ASB is particularly keen on action learning projects, so we put students in the field — an MIT concept.”

Below, see highlight from Poets&Quants’ interview with Sarma, edited for length and clarity.

What are the biggest challenges you’re currently facing with digital transformation?

It’s about disintegrating and reintegrating. Let’s say you wanted to learn about AI, crypto or carbon credits. Where do you go?

What we are doing is creating these hybrid courses where you watch the videos when you can, such as on the weekends. You don’t have to leave your job – you watch the videos when you can. You’re a weekend warrior and you master the topic when you can.

How is AI being utilized at ASB and how it is transforming teaching methods?

There are a few different levels. First, much of what professors use is automated, and a lot it is customer service based.

The next is in using AI to generate codes to write classroom games and simulations.

The third is using AI as a tutor. It can ask you questions, and you as the student can ask it questions.

The other thing about AI is, it’s going to be something you have to retrain yourself in every six to nine months because every thing has changed so much. I spend about two to three hours a week reading up on the latest myself.

The faculty have lots of discussions about AI, and we are small, so we can do that. The systems naturally absorb AI. AI tools creep in even for those professors who don’t use it often. You just have to be open-minded right now.

How is ASB preparing students to tackle these unique challenges in the global business world?

We are fundamentally rethinking our curriculum around technology.

ASB students spend weeks at a time at MIT. We introduced AI as a course and we also have a data science course.

That’s another thing for professors – they have to fundamentally rethink their curriculum.

The second piece of this is what we are doing – developing agile continuous education with our hybrid courses, which are micro-credentials that are modular, stackable and transferable to our MBA or Executive MBA, or specializations in areas such as sustainability or organizational management.

Sanjay Sarma: “It is, in my view, a matter of time before students demand an even greater degree of agility”

What other impacts do you believe the integration of advanced technologies will have on traditional business school models?

Business is changing so fast, and traditional business schools teach what needs to be taught right from the front lines.

Is the MBA worth it? These tools mean that there are so many new delivery methods. Do you want to be a movie theater in the age of Netflix? That’s the question. Adjust and adapt.

There are so many things that could change — what are we teaching, who is teaching it, do we have the capacity to teach it. ASB is particularly keen on action learning projects, so we put students in the field — an MIT concept.

How do you as a professor ensure that the curriculum remains relevant?

Its not easy. It’s very difficult to do. A lot of these fields have evolved over  a hundred years and there’s a playbook on how to teach it.

The fundamentals don’t change much,  but pretty much everything else changes when technology changes so rapidly. Take marketing, before and after TikTok. There’s a difference in the choices you make and the way you segment customers. Everything changes.

With my own technical work, I’ve changed the way I operate within the last three months. I’ve changed the way I write documents, the way I develop curriculum, the way I interact with my colleagues, the way I do research, and the way that I interact with my staff has changed.

The way I take notes, the way I do follow ups. I travel extensively, the time it takes me to plan travel has been cut in half.  I use Chat GPT, Perplexity and other tools. They all make serious mistakes. But I have achieved a level of expertise in these areas. I learn things faster now – things that would have in the past taken me weeks and months to learn.

Everything gets faster — it’s game-changing.

How important is it for MBA graduates to be proficient in emerging technologies?

100%. If you’re working at a bank as a young person, you’re going to have to take on challenges like how to use large language models in customer service. How do you address the risks of large language models, and what do you do when a large language model  makes a mistake?

Same with modern payment systems, crypto, carbon credits, I could name a hundred other similar examples. It’s really important because the vast majority of graduates are going to be at the forefront of a very significant change.

Originally published by Poets&Quants.

AI continues to challenge traditional notions about productivity and personal competence

IN THE ever-evolving landscape of technology, the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has heralded a significant paradigm shift in how we live, work and play. 

There is no contesting that AI will permeate into more aspects of our lives, bringing along new experiences and opportunities. 

Along with the tidal wave of change that AI brings, it continues to challenge traditional notions about productivity and personal competence and affects how we perceive and engage with work. 

Unlike previous technological advancements like computers, mobile phones or other hardware and machinery, AI tools not only assist but also execute tasks for humans, fundamentally altering the dynamics of work engagement and mastery experiences. 

The benefits gained from having AI take over tasks previously performed by humans are easy to see and understand — more efficient processes, less human errors and more consistent outputs. 

What is less obvious is the fundamental change in the nature of work experiences — such as the perceived value of the work done as we allow AI to perform more and more of our work. 

Traditionally, mastery experiences involve individuals actively overcoming challenges, refining their skills and eventually achieving desired outcomes. This gives value to their work and enhances their sense of competence. 

Therefore, it can be said that as AI assumes greater responsibility for task execution, opportunities for individuals to derive that value and sense of satisfaction diminish, posing a challenge to the traditional link between hard work and success. 

The belief that hard work directly leads to success is a fundamental social contract. Individuals invest time, effort and dedication under the assumption that their contributions will lead to tangible rewards and advancements. 

If this belief is eroded or weakened due to AI’s growing role in task execution, it could leave individuals disillusioned and disheartened. The far-reaching negative consequences of widespread disillusionment due to a perceived disconnect between hard work and success can manifest in various aspects of society. 

For instance, if entrepreneurs no longer believe that working hard leads to success, they may lose their motivation to innovate, take risks and persevere through setbacks. This can lead to a reluctance to start new ventures or pursue ambitious goals, stifling economic growth and innovation. 

To test this hypothesis, we examined data collected by the Pew Research Centre from over 4,000 adults in the US. This dataset measured participants’ attitudes toward AI and the importance they placed on working hard by, for example, “Would you say that society generally places TOO MUCH importance on working and having a job, NOT ENOUGH importance on working and having a job, or is it just about right?” 

We found that there was a positive correlation between positive attitudes toward AI and perceiving that society generally places too much importance on working and having a job, which suggests an association between favourable AI perceptions and a decreased emphasis on the value of traditional hard work. 

We then conducted two experiments with another 389 working adults across from a wide range of industries from the US and the UK to test the causal link between the use of AI and the devaluation of labour and hard work. 

In these studies, participants were asked to write a short essay on various topics. They were assigned to do it either with or without the assistance of ChatGPT. After collecting essays from participants, we had them rate the perceived value of hard work in the context of their writing process. Following this, also we hired 572 external raters to evaluate these essays. 

The results indicated that participants who utilised AI assistance to write their essays perceived hard work as less valuable compared to participants who wrote their essays without assistance, indicating that using AI had a detrimental effect on the value they placed on hard work. 

However, when it came to the matter of quality of work, the external raters reported the essays written with AI assistance to be of higher quality than those written without assistance. This was despite the fact that participants who used ChatGPT took less time on average (7.47 minutes) to write their essays compared to participants who did not use ChatGPT (9.31 minutes). 

Finally, we conducted a study to replicate these experiments with 100 Singaporean students aged 12-15. It was interesting to note that this test with the students did not yield the same results as with the adults — students who engaged in an AI-assisted task did not perceive hard work as any less valuable compared to students who completed the task without AI assistance. 

These results suggest that adolescents, having grown up in the era of technology and AI, perhaps are not as affected by these technologies in the same manner as adults. However, more research is needed to truly understand the generational differences between our responses to the prevalence of AI in our lives. 

In sum, while AI undeniably enhances efficiency and objective quality of work, it concurrently fosters a perception of work as less distinctive and diminishes the subjective value accorded to hard work. 

In other words, AI assistance erodes people’s sense of competence fulfilment, making them feel less unique and diminishing the value of their efforts. 

How then should organisations look at adopting and integrating AI in the workplace? 

Today, organisations are continually exploring avenues to bolster efficiency and streamline operations, and one such avenue is the integration of AI into the workplace. With its capacity to automate routine tasks, process vast datasets and provide data-driven insights, 

AI holds the promise of revolutionising work processes, thereby enhancing productivity and bolstering competitiveness. 

Whether it’s deploying AI-driven chatbots for customer service or leveraging AI algorithms for data analysis, organisations across industries are witnessing tangible improvements in operational efficiency as AI becomes increasingly integrated into their workflows. 

Tasks that once demanded significant time and resources are now accomplished swiftly, thanks to AI-powered automation. 

Consider the smartphone. On one hand, smartphones have undoubtedly made us more productive, allowing us to stay connected, access information on-the-go, and complete tasks efficiently. 

However, the ubiquity of smartphones has also brought about unintended consequences, such as increased distraction at work, social media addiction, and feelings of loneliness and isolation. 

Similarly, while AI holds the promise of boosting productivity in the workplace, there is a significant risk that it may also contribute to unintended drawbacks. 

As organisations rush to adopt AI technologies in pursuit of efficiency gains, it is essential to acknowledge the potential unintended consequences that may arise, particularly concerning human motivation and the intrinsic value of place on hard work. 

While AI may optimise processes and increase productivity on a surface level, our work suggests that its use could inadvertently lead to a gradual disengagement of employees from their work. 

One way to counter this is for organisations to adopt a proactive approach to job redesign, aiming to provide employees with opportunities for mastery and purpose in the AI-enabled workplace. 

Job redesign involves reimagining job roles and responsibilities to leverage AI for tasks that complement human skills, such as creativity, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving. 

Rather than focusing solely on task automation, organisations can reallocate responsibilities to enable employees to develop a deeper understanding of their work and achieve mastery in multiple areas. This may include skill-based task rotation, challenging assignments, and opportunities for feedback and recognition. 

For instance, AI can handle data analysis and provide insights, while employees engage in interpreting results, identifying patterns, and making strategic decisions based on these insights. This allows employees to develop a deeper understanding of the data and hone their analytical and deci- sion-making skills. 

By redesigning jobs to emphasise skill development, challenging assignments, and recognition of achievements, organisations can foster a culture of continuous learning and growth. 

Employees are empowered to engage in intellectually stimulating work, driving innovation and strategic decision-making. This not only enhances job satisfaction and employee retention but also reinforces the value of human contribution in the AI-enabled workplace. 

  • Alexander Eng is the assistant professor at Asia School of Business and Sam Yam is the professor at the National University of Singapore. 

Originally published by The Malaysian Reserve.

THE pace of economic activity in Malaysia has been accelerating since the second half of 2023. The Malaysian economy grew at an annual rate of 3.3% in Q3 2023, 3% in Q4 2023, and 3.9% Q1 2024.

The advance reading of the Q2 2024 figure indicates a significant jump, with an annual growth rate of 5.8%. This has understandably created a sense of optimism about the strength of the Malaysian economy.

Financial markets and private sector economists, particularly those in commercial banks, closely monitor these figures, as GDP figures provide important insights into the economy’s cyclical position, inflationary pressures, and the likely response from the central bank.

While this strong economic growth figure is certainly welcome, I would like to caution readers from two perspectives.

First, these advance figures are preliminary and subject to revisions-often substantial ones-as more data becomes available.

It is common for the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) to adjust these estimates as they refine their data. This practice is not unique to Malaysia; it is standard in every country.

Second, indeed, GDP figures matter greatly for the livelihoods of ordinary Malaysians.

However, the long-term prosperity of a country depends on whether such strong growth rates can be sustained over an extended period without triggering inflationary pressures or other economic imbalances.

What truly matters in the long run is the economy’s trend growth rate. Estimating this trend growth rate is challenging, as it is unobserved and subject to considerable uncertainty.

Therefore, it is important to ask if the 5.8% growth rate is within the range of sustainable growth.

In other words, can the Malaysian economy produce this rate of growth year after year for a considerable period of time?

Malaysia is a country of huge potential and this rate of growth is probably achievable. However, it is not simple.

My assessment is that Malaysia’s trend growth rate is likely in the range of 4–5.5%, which is a wide range in itself.

In arriving at this figure, I looked at the growth rate since 2014,which is significantly slower than the previous ten years.

It is important to understand the source of this slowdown that started even before COVID-19.

Achieving consistent growth rates close to 6% year after year is indeed possible but might prove challenging without significant reforms to enhance the economy’s productivity and competitiveness.

Furthermore, the global economic environment is becoming increasingly uncertain, with many head winds.

Recession fears are growing in the United States, and China’s contribution to global growth is not what it once was.

These external factors could pose risks to Malaysia’s economic outlook. In short, for financial sector economists, the latest GDP figure offers much to discuss.

However, for policymakers and the broader public, the real challenge lies in sustaining such growth rates over time. That is something we all hope for. 

Ozer Karagedikli is a Professor of Practice and the Director of the Central Banking Research Centre at the Asia School of Business Kuala Lumpur.

Originally published by Focus Malaysia.